Between Spada Lake and Sultan

I drove out to Spada lake and on the way I stopped to take some photos at a familiar location on Olney Creek.

Our Front Porch Shelob

It has taken longer this year, but we are finally getting the blossoming of the spider population. This large spider has constructed a web just next to our front porch.

Grand Army of the Republic Cemetery Revisited

Today, we have a short visit to the Grand Army of the Republic Cemetery, a place we've been before back in 2018. Unlike the first visit, this one is all in monochrome. Going for the "art photography" look again.

The flower above is a rose from a casket spray that was left on the fresh grave of a new resident.

Beauty from Down South

Since we can't go anywhere, I thought I'd liven things up a little with some really wonderful imagery from the South Pole. Here is a glorious time lapse from winter at the south pole showing the milky way and the extensive auroras that flourish there. And you thought there was nothing to see but ice and snow! Truth be told, there can't be many nights this clear during the siz-month long winter in that cold, forbidding place. Still, I feel a curious tug pulling southward. It's a place I long to see.

Yard Flowers in the Rain

As it slowly began to drizzle with more intensity, I carried on with my camera. I bought a piece of waterproof nylon some time ago for just such situations. Easier to carry than an umbrella and just as effective at keeping the camera dry, I found it pretty easy to handle.

Flowers in Our Yard During the Rain

While out photographing ferns, I thought I'd see what sorts of flowers were out in our yards as well. No reason to slight the more colorful of the plants.

Fern in the Rain

Naturally, after a couple days of sunshine (not really warmth, just sunshine), we reverted back to clouds and drizzle. I'd have never believed you if said I'd spend the summer in a place where the daily high temps after July 4th hover around 70 F.

So, when life gives you lemons...make lemonade. In this case, it was photos of wet ferns, but you get the idea.

Eagles

We continued out ride on to Bainbridge Island and stopped at the Town & Country grocery to get a sandwich for lunch. We rode out to find a spot to pull over and eat while we enjoyed the sunshine and the scenery. Along the way, we found a pair of Bald Eagles basking as well.

Poulsbo, WA

We had a little sun over the weekend and decided to take the ferry to Kitsap county and visit Poulsbo and Bainbridge Island. Here's some of what we saw while in Poulsbo.

Flower in the Rain Again

As my walk in the rain continued, I was fortunate to find more animals lurking about. Above, we see a snail apparently eating whatever this flower is.

Flower in a Light Rain

Having pretty much given up on getting any sunshine and warmth this summer, I took my camera and umbrella out for a stroll. It wasn't raining hard, just a steady mist. But it was raining enough that me and the camera could get wet. The upside is that the flowers did too.

From the altitude of five feet or so, I can't really see the insects so well. Thus, it always a bit of a surprise when I squat to take a photo of a likely flower and find a bug perched in a good place. I could pretend this fly was planned, but I'd be lying.

Greenwich - 2014

Out along the Thames, east of London, lies the former seat of royal power of Greenwich. It was also the location of much of England's naval support and training. The Old Royal Naval College, above, was originally designed by Christopher Wren and was built between 1696 and 1712 to be the The Royal Hospital for Seamen at Greenwich. in 1869, the hospital closed and between 1873 and 1998 is was the Royal Naval College.

Highgate Cemetery - 2014

Certainly, on of the best cemeteries we've visited is Highgate in London. It is filled with Victorian cemetery art of the highest order and populated by a zoo of famous people along with the lowly folks like us.

Flowers In Our Yard

I noticed that some there are some new blooms in the yard, so I headed out for a photographic foray. I have no idea what Anna planted above, but the small flowers are nice.

Lake View Cemetery - 4

This young girl stands as a constant reminder of someone lost to the cycle of life. I know that the religious among us find cemeteries peaceful for the promise of a better life after this one. I, however, find it peaceful as a place filled with interesting statuary, groomed lawns, the stories of lives well spent, and the separation such place always give from the surrounding buy world of the living. It is place to reflect on my own life and how I imagine I might be remembered one day. Of course, I don't plan to be buried in a  cemetery but rather scattered in some place pregnant with memories and surrounded natural beauty.

Lake View Cemetery - 3

Sometimes we find a gem amongst the chaff (a mixed metaphor is the best I can do today) such as the one above. It is rare to find a Hungarian flag on a gravestone and even rarer to find one that tell you the avocation of each of the interred.

Lake View Cemetery - 2

This is one of the older cemeteries in Seattle and it is now home to many of the pioneers. I don't know that these two fellows were important shakers and movers, but they were clearly out here early in the process of creating the city.

Lake View Cemetery - 1

Since we all need at least a brief respite from the endless stream of flower photos, today starts a short series of photos from Lake View Cemetery in Seattle. As you may recall, we tried to visit recently but the gates were locked. After figuring out that that it was open on the weekends, we were successful on our second trip.

Cambridge, 2014

The current news on the continued spread of covid-19 now makes it very clear that we will be masking and isolating for the foreseeable future. Combine this with the EU not letting americans in, and we have a recipe for not travel.

So today I thought I bring you a few more photos from 2014, when the world was more innocent...well at least less contagious.

In Our Neighbor's Yards

Around the corner from us, a few blocks away, is a large planting of St. John's Wort of a variety different from the one we have in our yard. Even though it is lacking the dramatic reds and purples of ours, it is still a handsome plant with the same sort of showy flowers.

Flowers from Afar

As I mentioned yesterday, with the telephoto lens on the extension tubes, I can reach plants farther from the sidewalk and add a few new things to the repertoire.

A Different Look at Some Favorites

In an effort to bring a little interest to what is, by now, an old subject, I tried something a bit different. I put my extension tubes on my 100-400mm lens to see what I could see. What I get is, of course, a smaller magnification and a longer working distance. The combination of these mean that you see more than just the small details and a few new flowers that were farther away in someone front yard.

Rosario Beach, Fidalgo Island

We had a stop of sunshine the other day, so we headed out for a ride. After a stop in La Conner just to have a look about (not much open there), we drove over to Fidalgo Island for a look about. We stopped at Rosario Beach and found a delightful place to spend some time.

Trying to Find New Flowers with Mixed Success

Down the street I found some stonecrop in full bloom. It is quite tiny flower, but it is a very nice one.

Flowers Mostly in Our Front Yard

I keep bringing you photos of the St. John's Wort out front because I really like the colors.

Louisa Boren Viewpoint

North of Capitol Hill, where all the action in Seattle these days seems to be, is the Louisa Boren Viewpoint. It is about a block from the aptly named Lake View Cemetery. We intended to visit the cemetery but it is closed because of the virus. I'd have thought that those inside are immune, but what do I know?

The image above is a panorama composed of 12 images to show the sweep of the view available. I think if you click on the image, you can enlarge it and then scroll back and forth to see the whole thing.

B&W Retrospective - Another Attempt at "Fine Art"

Although several of these images are onces you've seen recently, one of which you've already seen in B&W, all are recently converted to B&W or had their editing adjusted just for this post.

It seems like time to try out a little more of the "fine art" stuff one you. The image above is one if find appealing. The blossoms are in a diagonal line, leading you eye across the image. The shallow depth of field means that only a few of the blooms are sharp so there is a softness to the image that works for this composition.

London, 2014

Just wanted to take a moment to remind everyone what the world used to be like and, perhaps, will be again one day.

This is the Russell Square Tube Station in Bloomsbury, London. It is one of the closer stations to the British Museum. It is served by the Central Line. While we rode in from the house in East Finchley via the Tottenham Court Road Station on the Northern Line during our stay there in 2014, I often found myself walking to this station for a daily outing. While it is smaller and much less busy than the one at Tottenham Court Road, access is by way of an elevator or a torturous set of spiral stairs with something like 80-100 steps. So, you choices are slow or painful. If you've got time or this is the best connection, it is good option.

We miss our visits to London. We were there last about 12 years ago (at least it feels that way) in January of this year.

"Why, Sir, you find no man, at all intellectual, who is willing to leave London. No, Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford."
— Samuel Johnson

When do we leave?

A Walk Between Showers

Our next door neighbors have a different variety of St. John's Wort growing in their yard than we do. Theirs has larger blossoms and greens leaves rather than the smaller flowers and purple leaves that we have.

What you see above is the result of rain beating the stamen down. Since they are growing in a ring around the central part of the blossom and are mostly all the same length, what you get is a bright red ring where the tips land. This, combined with the five petals give it an appearance of a star all aglow in the night.

Evergreen-Washella Cemetery - 2

In addition to the military section, there were sections for many different persuasions and backgrounds. We found a section for the jew and at least two different areas for Orthodox christians. One was apparently for the Russians and the other for everyone else. There is also a section for the Japanese. But, most of the place seemed to be filled with protestants for various sorts.

Evergreen-Washelli Cemetery

With the restrictions lifting and a spot of sunshine, we headed out to investigate one the major cemeteries in Seattle. This is the Evergreen-Washelli Cemetery in north Seattle, just across the road from the hospital where Seamus was born.

Wet Flowers - 2

Down the street is a bed a Lamb's Ear that is producing flowers. These are spiky affairs. This view from above shows off the tiny bits of color in these otherwise light green and white plants.

Wet Flowers - 1

Think of these endless photos of flowers and plants as an exercise in learning to look at common things a new way. I'm certainly learning to see things in a new way and I hope you are as well.

Some Flowers in the Sunshine - 2

Yes, in spite of the frequent rain, when the sun comes out it will often dry enough for things like dandelions to produce their seeds.

Some Flowers in the Sunshine - 1

While I'm sure you are getting tired of seeing photos of the same plants over and over, there is something fascinating about the St. John's Wort growing in our front yard. The range of colors and textures makes a nice image.

B&W Retrospective: Raindrops on Plants

As is often the case in life, one must stop sometimes and reflect on the past to determine how best to proceed with the business of living. The same is true in photography. Today we will look back into the recent past to gather some images for collective inspection. This retrospective considers that "into each life, some rain must fall." With luck, it can also be pleasing to the eye.

Fields and Mountains

Not far from home, along the south shore of the Snohomish River is a field full of those plastic wrapped hay bales so common everywhere. I thought this made a nice panorama. Today, we are in between rainy days and we have a sky full of interesting clouds and expanses of blue, so it all worked reasonably well.

As you can see in the tall grass alongside the road, there is lots of the reddish color from the seed heads of the plants. This you see everywhere since there's been no roadside trimming for several months.

Marina Beach Park, Edmonds

There are two things you can always count on when going to the beach in Washington: a rocky beach and trees that have washed ashore. Certainly, the Marina Beach Park in Edmonds is no exception to this rule I just made up. No point in having a rule if the first thing you do is break it, is there? Of course not.

Flowers Because I Can't Find Anything Else

The Lady's Mantle in the front yard is always a favorite when there are bead s of rain water on the leaves. This one is fuzzy, hydrophobic, and presents an artistically sculpted line across the image all at the same time.

Flowers for Fun

The hardest part about having an endless parade of blog entries about flowers is thinking up titles for the posts. My apologies for being so thoroughly uninspired with that task.

The flower above was a faded pink color and since the color really didn't add anything to the image, I went for monochrome. I find the shards and textures are more pleasing this way.

More Flowers for Your Enjoyment

As summer is (finally) coming on here in the PNW, there are different sorts of flowers to photograph. Geez! this stuff never gets old...there is always something new blooming to find! So, hopefully, you will not get too bored with todays selection. The image above is the St. John's Wort in our front yard that is finally produced blossoms.

Mountains and Poppies

Went out to try to get some photos of the Cascades and found that the weather made for some pretty bad seeing. I had hoped that the clouds would lift a little and I could get some interesting cloud bits over the peaks, but no such luck.

Interesting Railcars

Sitting on a siding here in Snohomish for some time are these two cars. One appears to be a crane for handling train issues. You can tell I was more interested in the graffitti than the car itself.

Nearby Barn

When you cross to the south side of the Snohomish river, you enter the floodplain of the river. Lots of flat land that is only used for farming. Out here we find this interesting barn.

I net a really nice fellow named Nathan who allowed me to come on his property and make a few photos. The one above of the barn, looking more or less back toward the Harvey Airport, was taken from his yard.

A Couple Buildings Near Us

I went out for a ride today with the express intent of photographing the mountains. But, alas, it was too cloudy/foggy to see anything.

I next went to Lord Hill Park to see what there was but the parking lot was really full of cars and I decided that I wasn't up to risking infection for a few images.

Macro Photo Walkabout - 2

The curves of flowers are very compelling. This blue one has a symmetry that adds to this sensuousness and makes an image that I like.

Macro Photo Walkabout - 1

I decided, based on the initial trials you saw yesterday, to back off the magnification a bit. For the images you will see today and tomorrow, the magnification if 0.6. Still plenty I think with the advantage that there is a bit more depth of field.

A New Look at Macro Images

Up until now, all the close-up images I've presented have been done with the GFX camera using a 45 mm extension tube on the 100-200 mm lens. This get a magnification suitable for shooting flowers and such. However, for looking at smaller details at greater magnification, new toys are required.

Thus, I purchased an inexpensive pair of extension tubes for the smaller XF camera for use with the 35 mm lens I have for that camera. The images here are taken with 26 mm of extension that gets me a magnification of 0.88.

A Short Ride in Snohomish Country

Once you get out of the city of SNohomish into the surrounding Snohomish County, things get rural very quickly. The area seems to be well populated with horse, cattle, and sheep farms. On this day, my wanderings took me to horse country.